Book excerpt: Sometimes you need to take a break from the hardships of life, especially when you’re an assistant to a paranormal investigator and suffered not one, but two great losses. Maybe you stay at home, watch T.V., and eat bagels—or maybe you are locked in an inescapable prison for losing control over your bloodlust. Either way, breaks don’t last forever. Sooner or later, something or someone is going to force you back out and into the city. A city that’s struggling to maintain a social and political balance between magick and man. A city that’s fallen under a dark curse.